4 ms·

Ugh, please. At least use the right terminology. It's not "shrinking", it's "consolidating". It's also true that it's not only harder for smaller companies to l

by cletus 8y ago

Ugh, please. At least use the right terminology. It's not "shrinking", it's "consolidating". It's also true that it's not only harder for smaller companies to list (with greater compliance) but it's also less necessary. The article mentions this. With the rise of venture capital, private equity, crowdfunding and even ICOs there just isn't as much need for a company to raise funds by going public. Consolidation is also not unprecedented. Standard Oil? AT&T? The Sherman Act [1], which established antitrust, was passed in 1890. As for not having much visibility into what a company is doing, well that was always true. Why do you think so much importance is placed on the reputation of executives? I would argue that it's far easier to find out what a company is doing today that at any previous time. Take Apple, a now $1T company. Does anyone really not know what Apple is doing? Really? If you want to talk about consolidation or transparency or compliance costs of publicly listing then sure, go ahead. Those are all topics worthy of discussion. But "shrinking" is not only inaccurate, it's arguably clickbait. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
mFixman 8y ago
I agree without all the smugness. The stockmarket isn't shrinking (or consolidating) because there are less American companies; it's shrinking because it's easier for companies to receive funding while staying private.
- nine_k 8y ago
  The latter may also be for the better. Publicly traded companies are notorious for their being short-sighted and only caring for the next quarter results. Maximizing profit, or at least stock price, right now is the fiduciary duty of executives; long-term strategies are harder to implement. (Being VC-funded has its own skewed incentives, of course, like financially unsustainable growth.)
  - georgeecollins 8y ago
    Shortsightedness has nothing to do with regulation and everything to do with incentives (options) and liability. Strong regulations for disclosure with protection from liability seems like a good idea.
    - nine_k 8y ago
      Disclosure is indeed good! Doing more for the stock to rise by the end of the current quarter, and less to make company successful in longer term, is not so good. But this is known to happen, is it not?
Apocryphon 8y ago
Apple is literally the most notoriously secretive of the tech giants.
- scarface74 8y ago
  They are still better at reporting than most other tech companies. They publish separate numbers for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. They don’t separate out Beats, Watches, etc. but no other electronics company is even as transparent as they are.
matt4077 8y ago
"Consolidation" says more than "shrinking" – the latter just concerns itself with the easily visible headline number, while the former implies the mechanism by which that number has changed. Because mergers and acquisitions aren't a new invention, "consolidation" would be hard to proof as the actual cause: quite possibly, m&a has been steady but IPOs have been lower? > But "shrinking" is not only inaccurate, it's arguably clickbait. I don't see how it can be called inaccurate. Just because you (think you) know an explanation for the observed phenomenon does not render that observation inaccurate. I also don't quite believe "the stock market is shrinking" has any of the qualities usually attributed to "clickbait". Let's remember the term was coined for headlines such as "There are ten reasons you will die tomorrow, #12 will be the funniest you've ever heard". > As for not having much visibility into what a company is doing, well that was always true. The article argues rather specifically that being public leads to far better public availability of information for public companies vis-a-vis private ones. It's hard to argue with that point, considering that, yes, we know far more about Apple than, say, Koch Industries.
kgwgk 8y ago
Does anyone know in any detail how Apple Pay or the Beats brand are doing? Big Companies Can Keep Big Secrets: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/big-companies-can-keep-big-secrets https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/big-compa...
module0000 8y ago
I don't need to comment, because you wrote exactly what I was thinking. The claim that the stock market is shrinking is click bait. There is more capital in the world's markets than ever before, "shrinking" is not the right term at all. Consolidation is part of the cycle.
projektfu 8y ago
Some is consolidation, some is delisting, and some is leveraged buyouts.
scarface74 8y ago
Take Apple, a now $1T company. Does anyone really not know what Apple is doing? Really? I agree, and Apple is a perfect example of the direction of the larger market. Apple use to report sells of laptops and desktops separately, Apple Store revenue and profit, iPod sells (until they became meaningless), iPhone and iPad sells. But they saw that Amazon didn’t suffer any harm by only posting “Bezos charts” - showing that sells are moving up and to the right without posting unit volume - that they started doing the same thing with new product categories.

by cletus 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

mFixman 8y ago

I agree without all the smugness. The stockmarket isn't shrinking (or consolidating) because there are less American companies; it's shrinking because it's easier for companies to receive funding while staying private.

nine_k 8y ago
The latter may also be for the better. Publicly traded companies are notorious for their being short-sighted and only caring for the next quarter results. Maximizing profit, or at least stock price, right now is the fiduciary duty of executives; long-term strategies are harder to implement. (Being VC-funded has its own skewed incentives, of course, like financially unsustainable growth.)
- georgeecollins 8y ago
  Shortsightedness has nothing to do with regulation and everything to do with incentives (options) and liability. Strong regulations for disclosure with protection from liability seems like a good idea.
  - nine_k 8y ago
    Disclosure is indeed good! Doing more for the stock to rise by the end of the current quarter, and less to make company successful in longer term, is not so good. But this is known to happen, is it not?

Apocryphon 8y ago

Apple is literally the most notoriously secretive of the tech giants.

scarface74 8y ago
They are still better at reporting than most other tech companies. They publish separate numbers for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. They don’t separate out Beats, Watches, etc. but no other electronics company is even as transparent as they are.

matt4077 8y ago

"Consolidation" says more than "shrinking" – the latter just concerns itself with the easily visible headline number, while the former implies the mechanism by which that number has changed. Because mergers and acquisitions aren't a new invention, "consolidation" would be hard to proof as the actual cause: quite possibly, m&a has been steady but IPOs have been lower? > But "shrinking" is not only inaccurate, it's arguably clickbait. I don't see how it can be called inaccurate. Just because you (think you) know an explanation for the observed phenomenon does not render that observation inaccurate. I also don't quite believe "the stock market is shrinking" has any of the qualities usually attributed to "clickbait". Let's remember the term was coined for headlines such as "There are ten reasons you will die tomorrow, #12 will be the funniest you've ever heard". > As for not having much visibility into what a company is doing, well that was always true. The article argues rather specifically that being public leads to far better public availability of information for public companies vis-a-vis private ones. It's hard to argue with that point, considering that, yes, we know far more about Apple than, say, Koch Industries.

kgwgk 8y ago

Does anyone know in any detail how Apple Pay or the Beats brand are doing? Big Companies Can Keep Big Secrets: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/big-companies-can-keep-big-secrets https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/big-compa...

module0000 8y ago

I don't need to comment, because you wrote exactly what I was thinking. The claim that the stock market is shrinking is click bait. There is more capital in the world's markets than ever before, "shrinking" is not the right term at all. Consolidation is part of the cycle.

projektfu 8y ago

Some is consolidation, some is delisting, and some is leveraged buyouts.

scarface74 8y ago

Take Apple, a now $1T company. Does anyone really not know what Apple is doing? Really? I agree, and Apple is a perfect example of the direction of the larger market. Apple use to report sells of laptops and desktops separately, Apple Store revenue and profit, iPod sells (until they became meaningless), iPhone and iPad sells. But they saw that Amazon didn’t suffer any harm by only posting “Bezos charts” - showing that sells are moving up and to the right without posting unit volume - that they started doing the same thing with new product categories.